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Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani) announced on Wednesday the launch of container terminal operations at Jubail Commercial Port on the East coast under a privatisation contract with Saudi Global Ports (SGP), the Authority said in a press statement.
The project is part of a broader 2.2 billion Saudi riyals ($586 million) build-operate-transfer (BOT) programme announced in June 2025 for multipurpose cargo terminals across eight ports on Saudi Arabia’s east and west coasts.
The contract for Jubai Commercial Port was among the four awarded to SGP’s subsidiary Modern Port Services Company under a 20-year concession agreement by Mawani, the other three being King Abdulaziz Port Dammam, King Fahad Industrial Port Jubail and Ras Al Khair Port.
The project included major infrastructure and equipment enhancements at the Jubail facility, with berth length increased from 1,000 metres to 1,400 metres, berth depth deepened from 14 metres to 18 metres, Ship-to-Shore (STS) cranes increased from six to ten, and rubber-tyred gantry (RTG) cranes expanded from 13 to 29.
These upgrades have raised the port’s annual container handling capacity from 1.5 million TEUs to 2.4 million TEUs across a 460,000 square metre (sqm) terminal area, enabling the port to accommodate larger vessels and improve operational efficiency.
SGP, part of Singapore-based PSA International, had announced previously that it would invest more than SAR 700 million ($187 million) to upgrade the four terminals and procure new equipment.
(Writing by Majda Muhsen; Editing by Anoop Menon)
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